Afghanistan has bolstered its ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against India, which kicks off in Dharamsala on June 13, by adding fast bowler Mohammad Saleem to the lineup. Originally selected solely for the Test squad, Saleem earned his promotion following an impressive performance in the one-off Test in New Chandigarh. Despite the team's crushing innings-and-350-run defeat, Saleem emerged as a rare bright spot; he consistently clocked speeds around 140kph and delivered long, spirited spells on a surface that provided minimal assistance to pace bowlers. His form has continued into training, where he was seen testing batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz with sharp, short-of-good-length deliveries during Wednesday's practice session.
Mohammad Saleem added to Afghanistan's ODI squad for India series
Meanwhile, preparations for the series have been marked by some uncertainty regarding key players Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, neither of whom attended the team's final training session in Mohali. It is reported that Rashid will meet up with the rest of the squad directly in Dharamsala. As for Nabi, who is already with the team, he was sidelined from the session due to illness.
"He was just fantastic. If you come here and you take six wickets in extreme heat against high-quality batting, that goes very well, not just for him as a bowler, but for us as a side," Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus said, as quoted by Cricinfo.
During the recent Test, Mohammad Saleem operated as the first-change bowler and did not have the opportunity to share the second new ball. When questioned about this decision, team coach Pybus explained that because this series marks his first assignment with the squad, he is still in the process of learning and evaluating the individual strengths of each player.
"I don't have any history with these guys before. So in terms of their combinations, this is part of my learning curve. I do know that he has had some niggles in the past. So, yeah, it's just getting them on the park consistently and allowing them to back up these performances," he added.
Afghanistan's squad for ODI series against India
Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharotai, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Malik, Bilal Sami, Mohammad Saleem